The Socialmatic, a camera inspired by Instagram that can print filtered photos, will be decked out in Polaroid livery when it's released in 2014.

Don't shake this like a Polaroid picture.
(Credit: Socialmatic)

The concept for Socialmatic has been around since 2012. It's a square camera that can spit out images, a bit like a digital Polaroid.

After plenty of negotiations, Socialmatic has signed an agreement to brand the device a "Polaroid Socialmatic Camera". The naming rights for Polaroid are owned by a holding company called PLR IP Holdings, LLC, following the bankruptcy proceedings of Polaroid Corporation.

Last year, it was revealed that the Socialmatic would run Android and come in four different versions, with either 16GB or 32GB of storage, as well as Wi-Fi or 3G.

Unfortunately, the release date has been pushed back to the first quarter of 2014. Final specifications have not been made available yet, though we're assuming that they won't be vastly different from what was already mentioned.

What we do know is that Instagram will not be officially involved with the Socialmatic. The CEO of Socialmatic referenced a new social network that would run on the camera in his statement:

It's been a long and difficult negotiation, but we were strongly motivated to reach an agreement to create a small revolution in digital photography. This mix of hardware and software, together with our brand new photo social network, will fill the gap between virtuality and reality.

A custom photo social network would certainly get around the licensing limitations that would come with officially associating the Instagram name or features with the Socialmatic. But if the camera runs Android, it would be possible to install the Instagram app and run it that way on the device.

In a blog post, the company said that the Socialmatic network would create "a new way to experience the digital photography (sic), merging the social features with messages, advertising and so on".